Senior al-Qaeda leader 'killed' in Afghanistan

US officials say they believe Al-Qaeda’s number three leader in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, was killed recently in the tribal areas of Pakistan in an American drone attack.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was “strong reason” to believe that Mr Yazid was killed in Pakistan’s tribal areas in the past two weeks.
US monitoring groups said a message from al-Qaeda posted on Islamist forums on 31 May said the militant’s wife, three of his daughters, his granddaughter, and other men, women, and children, were killed.

The message translated by the SITE group, which monitors Islamist websites, did not give any details about the circumstances of his reported death, other than to speak of his “martyrdom”.